Planeterra Foundation gives sight to the blind in Tibet

by Sean McLachlan on

Tibet is one of the most visually stunning places on Earth, but many Tibetans can’t see it.

Blindness is a serious problem in the developing world. Poverty and lack of rural health care means that millions of people around the world go blind because of easily curable maladies such as cataracts.

One of the organizations fighting to stop curable blindness is the Planeterra Foundation, which recently announced a fund raiser and a video contest. For the past two years Planeterra has set up eye clinics in rural Tibetan villages and performed hundreds of surgeries.

“Tibet has one of the highest rates of blindness in the world. Most of this blindness is due to cataracts, a disease associated with aging but also prevalent among children and the working class. Many are unable to reach a hospital because of poverty and lack of transportation. With scattered populations spread across great distances, surgical eye camps are the most efficient way to treat the high rate of disease,” said Planeterra director Richard Edwards.

Such clinics are very cost effective. A donation of $50 pays for cataract surgery, so if you’ve enjoyed the beauty of the Himalayas, this is a good way to give back.

If you’re handy with a video camera, check out the “Her Sight Is Worth It.” video contest sponsored by Planeterra‘s partner Seva Canada. Young, aspiring filmmakers will create a short videos about vision impairment and gender, with the grand prize winner getting a new MacBook. Three winning videos will be screened at the World Community Film Festival and be honored by having sight restored to one girl and one woman in their name.

Planeterra believes in responsible travel and through its parent company Gap Adventures runs “Voluntours” where travelers can help out in schools in Zambia, study sea turtles in Costa Rica, or assisting street children in Peru. All Voluntours include several days of sightseeing too. Planeterra and Gap Travel are co-winners of the 2009 Responsible Travel and Tourism Forum (RTTF) Leadership Award presented by Baxter Travel Media and Air Canada.

Having trekked around a lot of different countries, I’ve seen many, many people stuck in sightless poverty because they can’t afford such a cheap and simple operation. Luckily Planeterra and Seva Canada aren’t the only folks out there tackling the problem. A number of agencies are fighting blindness. When I went to the Kumbh Mela festival in Allahabad, India, in 2001, there was one guru who had set up a free eye clinic and performed hundreds of cataract surgeries. It must have felt like a miracle for the patients to have their sight restored at Hinduism’s holiest festival.

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U.S. Congreswoman’s husband dies on remote Himalayan peak

by Kraig Becker on

Clifton Maloney, the husband of U.S. Representative from New York Carolyn Maloney, has died while climbing in the Himalaya. The millionaire investment banker was 71 years old, and was on Cho Oyu, the sixth highest mountain in the world, reaching 26,906 feet in height.

Maloney was described as an avid adventurer who was into running, sailing, and climbing. He had competed in the New York City Marathon on 20 occasions and climbed all over the world. After successfully summitting Cho Oyu, he gained the distinction of being the oldest person to achieve that feat.

Following that successful summit, Maloney and his team descended to one of their prepared high camps to rest after a long day at altitude. Reportedly he told one of the other climbers “I am the happiest man in the world. I just climbed a beautiful mountain” before crawling into his sleeping bag for the night. He never woke up, and at this time the exact cause of his death is still unknown.

Located just 12 miles west of Mount Everest, Cho Oyu falls on the border between Nepal and Tibet, and despite its height, it is generally considered the easiest of the fourteen 8000 meter peaks. Because of this, there are numerous guided expeditions to the mountain each year. Maloney was climbing as part of one of these professional expeditions.

Maloney is survived not only by his wife, but two daughters, his mother and sister.

China closes Tibet once again

by Kraig Becker on

China has once again closed off the borders of Tibet to foreign travelers ahead of the October 1st holiday celebrating 60 years of Communist rule. According to this story from the Associated Press, the travel ban went into effect on Tuesday and is expected to last at least until the 8th October and is the result of fears of protests and demonstrations in the Himalayan state. The article says that while no new visitors are being allowed in, travelers already in Tibet have been allowed to stay.

Besides shutting down the borders, security has also been increased across the country, particularly in the larger urban centers such as Lhasa. These measures have become common place in recent months, starting with a crackdown in March of 2008, following a series of riots, that left the country shut off to the rest of the world for months. The Chinese claim that 22 people were killed during that incident, but Tibetan nationals claim that that number is in the hundreds. Beijing made the same move in February of this year out of fears of further protests around the 50th anniversary of the exile of the Dalai Lama.

The economic impact of shutting down the borders is felt directly by the Tibetan people, many of whom make their living in the tourist trade. Autumn is traditionally the second busiest time of the year for tourism in Tibet, with trekkers and mountaineers visiting the country following the departure of the summer monsoon. According to the AP story, the effects are already being felt, with foreign visitors to local hotels already down 20%-30%.

Hopefully the October 1st holiday comes and goes without incident and the borders reopen on schedule on the 8th.

North Face Triology Expedition Underway on Cho Oyu

by Kraig Becker on

In the High Himalaya the Monsoon has moved on at last and the fall climbing season is well underway, with mountaineering teams already taking up position on the world’s highest peaks as they prepare to make their climbs before the frigid winter sets in.

One such expedition, sponsored by gear company The North Face, has set its goals very high. While most are content with reaching the summit on any one of the very tall mountains in the region, which includes Everest, topping out at 29,029 feet. But for the Cho Oyu Trilogy Expedition the summit is just the start of the adventure.

Cho Oyu is the sixth tallest mountain in the world and falls on the border of Nepal and Tibet. It stands 26,906 feet in height, and sits just ten miles to the west of Everest. It is often regarded as the easiest of the fourteen 8000 meter peaks to climb, which may be why the Trilogy team has decided that after they reach the summit, they needed to add a little more excitement to their expedition.

The plan is for climbers Simone Moro, Elizabeth Hawker, Herve Barmasse, and Emilio Prevatali to summit the mountain along two different routes. Upon reaching the top, Prevatali will climb onto his snowboard and attempt to make his descent along Cho Oyu’s north face, while the rest of the team descends on foot.

Once everyone is safely back in base camp, the second phase of the expedition will begin, with Moro and Hawker putting on running shoes and running all the way back to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, while their companions, Barmasse and Prevatali, make that same journey on mountain bikes. That journey is approximately 275 miles in length, with an average elevation above 15,000 feet, ensuring quite the aerobic workout.

Needless to say, this will be an incredible adventure for the team, and along the way they’ll not only pass through some of the most scenic spots on the planet, they’ll also be exposed to Tibetan culture in the form of tea houses, Buddhist temples, and quaint mountain villages.

Learn photography skills while trekking the Himalaya

by Kraig Becker on

A few days back we listed some of the top opportunities for learning new skills while traveling, and today we have a similar opportunity that will give you the chance to build your photography and videography skills while trekking through Tibet next spring.

The Everest Trek 2010 is being billed as “the highest photography and videography workshop in the world” and it is being put hosted by Chris Marquardt and Jon Miller. Marquardt has one of the best known photography podcasts on the Internet in Tips From the Top Floor, while Miller is the producer of the Rest of Everest, a video podcast that is the most comprehensive look at climbing the tallest mountain on the planet that you’ll find anywhere. Both will give their fellow travelers insightful and important tips on improving their skills as photographers and videographers in daily workshops set against the dramatic backdrop of the Himalaya.

The duo’s first trek and workshop combination, was held earlier this year and was a huge success. On that first trek trip, the destination was Everest Base Camp on the South Side of the mountain, in Nepal. This year, the journey will take the team to Tibet, where they’ll explore the North and East Sides of Everest, on a four week long odyssey that will begin and end in Kathmandu.

If you are interested in joining the expedition, registration will open on Sunday, September 20th at 9:00AM MDT (UTC -7). Last year the entire trek sold out in less than a minute, and demand is expected to be high again for the 2010 edition as well. Applications will be accepted on a first come, first served basis, giving those first to apply, the first chance to join the trek.

This is a learning vacation that offers an adventurous trek through one of the planet’s most stunning environments. And while the North Side of Everest gets a lot of traffic in the spring of each year, the East Side of the mountain is seldom visited, and remains a remote, and rugged wilderness. That alone makes this a unique experience, but add in the daily workshops, and you’re sure to have a once in a lifetime vacation.